Bolivia announces state of emergency as El Nino fuels severe drought

Bolivia has introduced a nationwide state of emergency to accelerate disaster relief as extreme conditions linked to the El Nino weather pattern spread across the country.

President Rodrigo Paz enacted the decree on Saturday to unlock emergency funding and dispatch extra rescue units to communities suffering from both severe dry spells and heavy inundations. Paz warned that the phenomenon would bring harsh consequences through floods and water shortages, stressing that responding effectively requires unified efforts across state and local agencies.

A government assessment published earlier in the week revealed that prolonged drought has hit 78,000 households across six of the nation's nine administrative departments. The parched conditions have also devastated agricultural communities, killing more than 75,000 head of cattle.

Bolivia regularly confronts contrasting climate hazards, including dangerous floods alongside persistent dry spells. Late last year, severe flooding in the eastern department of Santa Cruz claimed dozens of lives.

The wider region is also grappling with erratic climate disruptions associated with the phenomenon. In neighbouring Chile, the capital city of Santiago recently experienced its wettest October on record, while deadly wildfires in Peru claimed at least a dozen lives in the preceding month.

El Nino emerges naturally every two to seven years as waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean warm up, altering atmospheric pressure, wind currents, and typical rainfall distributions around the globe. While the strength and local effects of each cycle vary, forecasters warn that the current cycle could rank among the most intense ever documented.

Experts anticipate the system will reach maximum strength toward the end of 2026, though its disruptions could persist well into 2027. Climate scientists caution that global impacts could ultimately lead to more than 450,000 fatalities, with less-developed nations facing the greatest danger. The World Meteorological Organization indicated in September that conditions are almost certain to endure through at least February 2027.